Concrete wall construction.



G. S. MUMPORD. CONCRETE WALL CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1913.

Patented Aug. 11,1914.

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A TTOH/VEXS THE MORRIS PETERS C0.4 PHOHPLTMO. WASHINGTUN. D. C.

G. S. MUMPORD. CONCRETE WALLA CONSTRUGTION. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1913. 1,1 07,200. Patented Aug. 11, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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GURDON S. MUMFORI), OF GAIlllEl\TV CITY, NEW YORK.v

CONCRETE WALL coNsT-RUCTIQN.

Specification 'ofcLetters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11,1914.

Application fued nine 13, 191s.` sentirne-Wesen T0 all whom it may concern Be it known thats l, GURDoN S. MUMFORD a citizen of the United States, vresiding at Garden City, in the county of Nassau: and:-

State of New York, have. invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Concrete W all Construction, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it -appertains to make and use the same. j

This invention relates to concrete wall construction, and with regard to certain more specific features thereof, to the con-1 struction of walls of houses, factories and the like.

@ne of the objects of the Ipresent invention is to obtain the security fromvleakage and dampnessafforded by a double concrete `wall.

with its insulatingair space and to obviate the structural difliculties of distributing the floor and interior weights equally4 on both walls, which would otherwise cause a considerable excess of material to be used andact against the use of a double wall fo-r buildings of considerable height and size.

A further object is to afford a system of building permitting a true panel construction, each section independent of the other, but with all portions finally united in a monolithic, harmonious whole.

A further object is to provide a practical construction of tied double concrete walls involving non-porous, non-temperature conducting features.

A further object is to eliminate in the interior air space between double-concrete walls the general air communication andv cir.- culation, and thereby localize the effect of outside or inside thermic influences such as heat of the sun, driving storms, or intense heat in one portion of the building, e. g., a boiler room, which would tend to heat through the inner wall and affect the temperature of the air insulation.

A. further object is to obtain a fire proof system of framing in the wall itself by using fire resisting material, connected integrally with a double, insulated wall girder arrangement wherein the outer wall-girder carries the weights which the inner wallgirder transmits, such inner girder and ad-` joining inside wall being constructed to maintain a high degree of integrity and stability in case of a conflagration.

A further object is to obtain a system of framing walliobviating the necessity'of many metal Wall ties, and wall reinforcement, thus permitting the-use of comparatively th-inidoubl'e wallsatl any point, irrespective of the height, and affording a means ofI denitely computing the strength, and j stability` of lthe wall:

A further object is to permit the' easy, economical, and. adequate reinforcement of double Walls and to prevent contraction cracks byi limiting the continuous length of any given portioniof'concrete Wall, thus oloviating the necessity of expansion joints and obtaining thereby,v` all the advantages of a continuous, monolithic construction.

A- further object is to afford a construction that permits any projectingportionof the .building or certain portionsc of a panel divisionlto-:be built` of'terra-cotta tile, blocks or .otherfsmall unit construction and to be bonded integral-ly with the main concrete masses, free fromthe liability of a through crack or joint. occurring at the junction points, thus doing-away with the necessity of many, specially constructed, concrete molds, andallowing great variety in design and flexibility in combining otherbuilding materials with` the Iconcrete walls.

Other objects willbe yiii-part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

To these ends, this invention consists in certain novel andpec-uliar features of construction andl organization and relative arrangement of'parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, the scope of which will be indicated in the following claims. For this purpose reference ismade to the accompanying drawings wherein is shown one ofthe various possible `embodiments of` the'invention, illustrating as a-neXam-ple portions of a building embodying some of its essential principles.

Figure l is an elevational view of a buildingwall showing the general exterior appearance, andindicating lthe position of the concealed column and girder formation. The portion on the left exemplifies a projecting part ofthe structure built Ofterra cotta tile blocks-the projection is only partially shown in elevation, to delineate more clearly the wallv girder just above in the plane of the ma-inwall, carryingthe upper part of this endof the building. This upper portion is also shown incompleted to bring out the component parts of the wall columns and to instance the panel method of buildving. Fig. 2 is a plan, sectional view taken along the line A-A, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section online B-B, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line C-(, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view through the wall showing manner of anchoring wood or steel or concrete floor beams and girders to the walls. Figs. 6 and 7 are plan and section views, respectively, through the wall showing the construction used to anchor a concrete floor slab and concrete T beam to the walls.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1:-A. foundation wall 1 or footing course, or piers in the event of there being no cellar, is first constructed. Upon this foundation, piers or columns 2 are erected at any desired points and at the co-rners 3 Fig. 2, if required. The height and distance vapart of these piers may'be varied according to the requirements of any particular building, and it is intended that at their upper ends and at certain intermediate points they shall support a system of double, insulated, concrete girders 4 formed integral and n situ, with the adjoining double walls, said piers 243 being connected integrally with this system of double girders by means of reinforcing rods 5, grouting, and clencher grooves, and forming supporting abutments thereto.

The piers or columns are preferably constructed of a plurality of hollow cellular, terra-cotta tile blocks, superposed in courses laid in cement in any suitable manner to break joints and give strength thereto. These tiles 6 are preferably of the kind shown in Fig. 10 having key grooves which the concrete fills, thus forming a lock with the tile, and are so arranged that their cells 7 will be disposed vertically and in a manner to coincide or register with cells of the tiles above and below. Where desirable a portion or all of these cells are filled with grouting and steel rods 8 inserted therein for reinforcing and strengthening purposes. The corner tile columns, where such are used, are preferably L-shaped in cross section while the intermediate piers are rectangular in cross section. The piers after being built to the level of the bottom of the first story door and window lintels or other point where a double concrete girder is to be formed as an integral part of the wall and where suitable reinforcing steel rods 5 are to be employed to take tension and other stresses, the cross section of the piers is diminished to form offsets 10 on which the double girder formation will rest as well as the walls and weights supported on the girder, thus permitting the load stresses to be carried directly into the tile columns. In this manner the wall will be made up of unit sections between the piers at different heights so that each unit shall be supported in the structure, not depending for support on the wall unit below. ln forming this offset bearing, the outer row of cells of the offset tiles will be left open or unfilled with mortar or grout, permitting the downwardly bent ends of the tension beam reinforcing rods 5 to be inserted therein and mortared up, or they may be afterward filled in during course of constructing the double girders. Tie rod members 1l are also inserted between the tile blocks during crection of the piers to give an additional bond to the double walls. The double walls at this lintel level are then spanned by flat tile pieces 12 which may be given a thin mortar coat to prevent leakage and the double con` crete beam 4 is cast from one tile column to another tile column resting on the offsets l() and filling the open cells, the beam reinforcing rods 5 having been previously placed. The girder 4 is made double by inserting in its center flat, hollow, tile 13, Fig. 3, with their cells registering vertically, such insertion being made during the casting of the girder. A cinder concrete may be used for the inner beam and inner wall and a stone concrete for the outer beam and outer wall, if desirable for fireproofing. The effect of the double girder is to allow any leakage through the outside wall or condensation to find an uninterrupted passage down to the foundation wall from whence it may be drawn off through outlets` if neces sary. lt is to be observed that said double girders 4 with reinforcing rods 5 span from column to column irrespective of the size or number of windows or openings, or whether there are openings or not. Their function is also to tie the wall together and relieve the double walls from bearing-strains and among other objects to render the dwelling earthquake proof, by incorporating in the wall a frame of members all capable of taking tension stresses and thus securing` delinite anchorage as well as an internally braced and tied structure. lt can also readily -be seen that such an arrangen'lenlV of steel in a system of connected girders and columns is more economical and more capable of definite stress analysis than a reinforcing of the double walls as slabs on edge. rlhc fact that the double walls below and above are continuous with the double transverse girders 4 adds a considerable safety factor permitting high unit stresses in concrete and steel to be used safely in calculations and provides also an additional safeguard in case unexpected weakness developed in either double walls or girders.

The double girders 4 with their center insulating partition of hollow tile function J.

practically as one and the loads from the wall and fioors above are evenly distributed, but a great advantage of insulating the outer wall is obtained, for the hollow tile affords a perfect fire stop, and leakage water cannot collect in upper portions of the wall.

By shifting the position of the vertical layer of hollow, terra cotta, tile blocks 13 in the girder from its center arial position as shown, to positions nearer to either the outside of the wall as a whole, or the inside, different assumptions can be made in the design of the wall girders,in compliance therewith. That is, assuming that said layer of insulating, terra cotta, tile is placed much nearer the inside surface than the outside surface, it may be further assumed that such interior girder acts merely as a bracket, and cross ties of steel 14; may be inserted between the terracotta tile blocks to further aid this action. The outside portion of double girder is more heavily reinforced with the tensile and shear steel bars 5 to take the whole load-this being the preferred fireproof construction. The opposite disposition to this may be found desirable where very heavy ioor loads are to be carried, that is, the inner division of the double girder is made the thickest and the wall weight is assumed to be transmitted inwardly upon it. In ordinary construction where neither fireprooling nor weight carrying requirements are necessary, the preferred construction is as shown, the girder tbeing divided equally and the weights assumed to be transmitted to each equally, or practically so, thus allowing a simple, eiiicient economical apportionment of reinforcing steel. It is apparent that great flexibility in the design of such a wall is possible by this system of construction, without the necessity of changing the through dimensions, that is, the distance from surface 15 to surface 16, Fig. 2.

For economy of construction, it is very desirable to have a standard wall thickness, that is, a standard distance from surfaces 15 to 16 which will be constant for all butthe largest type of structures. In ordinary masonry construction, this would involve a great waste of material in. the smaller buildings, but by this construction the double walls may be made thin and the air space relatively great, and the hollow girder tile 13 increased in thickness so that an apparently heavy and imposing wall is obtained with a minimum of material, for small houses. The reverse would be used for large buildings so that a heavy and solid type of construction is obtained. tn all cases the economies of having all window and door casings7 trim, etc., standard for a certain total wall thickness and all formed standard for a certain total thickness of wall, etc., is obtained. The connecting wall girder 4t with the columns make possible an eiiicient transmitting of weights and strains from inside andoutside walls at frequent intervals, thus making a wide air space between double walls practicable, and eliminating the danger of either inside or outside wall carrying too great a proportion of the weight, which if not do-ne, inevitably requires that both of the double walls be made extra thick, thereby wasting material, .and generally increasing the cost.

Different shapes of reinforcing rods 5 are used in girders 4- as required to take shear and diagonal tension, the separated portions of the girders are further tied together by diagonal cross steel rods 1a (see Figs. 6 and 7) for the purposes previously mentioned.

At such points of the structure, as in Figs. 1 and 2, where it is desired to build projections or outlying portions of such shape and size that it is inconvenient and unprofitable to employ concrete,y columns 2 and 3 are located at the intersecting corners where the walls of the projections meet the walls of the main building. The wall of the proj ection is then built of terra cotta tile blocks; the tile blocks at the intersection being bonded withthe tile blocks of columns and the vertical reinforcing steel rods 8 pass downward through such terra-cotta blocks, as are common to both the wall of the projection and column.` rlhe compartments in the tiles are filled with mortar or grouting, las before mentioned. In this way` a rigid junction is formed at the intersecting angle points of the different wallsJ andl all possibility of cracks at these places is eliminated and an economical and practical construction is obtained. The main concrete wall is bonded to the tile block portion of the structure without in any way interfering with the pouring of concrete, and avoiding the occurrence of a through vertical joint.

It is readily seen that brick or other unit block material may be used in connection with the terra cotta tile blocks and that this same principle may be carried out in forming the wall of the main building at any particular panel point, such terra cotta tileV blocks resting upon girder 4 and closing the wall interval between columns and the girder above. The object of this form of the construction is to permit certain architectural effects to be obtained which are readily and cheaply done in unit bonded masonry construction, but which are extremely eX- pcnsive and difficult if attempted by means of concrete poured in molds, concrete being most economically used for plain simple surfaces The previous lack of such method of satisfactory combining the two forms of construction and materials having acted to confine concrete buildings to a certain set type of architecture.

It is understood that in all snch cases as the above7 a coat or coats of stucco or mortar plaster finish is applied uniformly to concrete and terra cotta tile outside surfaces and plaster or other finish to the inside surfaces, so that no change in the character of the material or construction is perceptible to the eye, unless so desired. v

A further advantage of this construction is that it gives a much greater scope in the use of building materials, as in some cases a structure built on this principle may be partially terra cotta tile building blocks, and mainly concrete or vice versa, and at. the same time the natural conditions limiting` the use of bot-h classes of materials are most advantageously and economically complied with.

in the construction of the double Walls and transverse girder, the preferred method is to end. the cast longitudinally at suchpoints 20, that a portion of the walls and girders entirely surrounds and laps past the t-erra cotta tile columns, (see Figs. l, 2) a space 21 being left open, temporarily; the walls and girders are allowed to set fully so that any slight initial contraction from this cause may take place. This space 2l is then mortared up with a cement grout or mixture as near the proportions of the mass concrete as possible. rThe entire outside wall is then finished with a stucco coating, or, if pren ferred, the completed outside surface may be rubbed, tooled or otherwise treated. in this manner all danger from contraction cracks is obviated, and a uniform appearance obtained. A true panel construction is also possible as sections of the wall are built independent of each other, but are united into a linal monolithic whole free from through joints or cracks, and by means of limiting the distance apart of the columns, contrae# tion cracks from changes of temperature are nullilied.

The terra cotta tile columns (Figs. l, 2) are carried upward to a point just below the top of the wall, the longitudinal dimension of their sections continually diminishing as shown, the reinforcing rods 8 projecting to just below the top level of wall, the topinost transverse girders e extend over the tops of columns and reinforcing rods 5 may be carried down into the tile columns or extended beyond into the next panel, as shown. lt is readily seen that this construction makes possible carrying heating pipes, etc., between the double wall and girders, and permits large sections of the interior wall to be removed to make way for radiators 0r heating apparatus, etc., without structural danger, and further permits a system of indirect heating, that is, a heating of the interior concrete wall itself by running heating pipes through it to cause it t0 become a radiator on a large scale. The partitioning tile columns and inside groove spaces limit the flow of heat horizontally by conductivity7 and by such a system, utilizing to a large extent the heat now wasted in transmission from the generator to the upper stories.

At the level of the floor beams, wedge key shaped openings 22 (Figs. 4, 5) are left in the interior division of girder 4l. The beam 23 is then placed, and if 0f wood, a steel wall tie member 24 is nailed to the side of the floor beam at the top and by means of mold pieces nailed to the floor beam, a mortar wedge piece is then cast in the opening. By this means a permanent anchorage is obtained between the girder at and the licor beam, and the bearing portion of the wood beam is not sealed from the air, which would induce dry rot. In the case of steel l beams 27 the openings 22 are entirely closed with mortar or concrete and a dowelbar 26, extending through the l, used, and if concrete beams are used, the openings 22 are iilled by the concrete beam 28 whose section enlarges and forms an anchorage. If a concrete licor slab 30 is used (Figs. G, 7) a ledge 3l is left in the inner portion of girder and suitable reinforcing members lil are used7 as shown, to anchor the slab 30 and transmit the stress into the outer portion of divided girder. The floor slab 30 is then cast into place, iilling the ledge and beam opening 31, 32.

ln many cases it is desirable to use a con crete corner column instead of a terra cotta tile corner column, see Figs. l, 2. As shown at the right of Fig. 2, this concrete corner 1. 'zlninn is of l--shaped section and is divided into two parts by a vertical layer of book terra cotta hollow tile. The inner and outer sections the column are tied by cross reinforcing steel rods 3l a d have vertical rcinfercing steel rods 35 as shown. rlhis corner column has the saine characteristics as the girder l, and is cast at the same time and in situ with it and the walls; the girder steel rods and all column steel rods being placed in advance of or during casting of the concrete.

lt is thus seen that this invention provides a simple and practical coi'istruction of concrete walls utilizing the bcmelits and obviating any disadvantages 'formerly inherent in the double or hollow wall and accomplishing among others all the objects and advantages above set forth.

ils many changes could be made in carrying out the above construction and many apparently diiierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. lt is also to be un derstood that the language used in the :tollowing claims is intended to cover all of the generic and speciiic features of the invention herein described, and all statements oi the scope of the invention which, as a matter oit language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. rlie herein described construction of concrete walls wiich consists oir' a series of columns of hollow, bonded, masonry blocks with a partial number of compartments iilled with mortar and reinforcing iron rods, such columns being integral with and completely incased by a concrete hollow wall, and having a series ofoise in the plane of the wall, formed by progressively diminishing the column section in connection with a centrally insulated reinforced concrete girder member, extending between such columns and resting upon the oilsets and being made substantially integral with the columns by means olf iron rods projecting downward into the oli'set compartment spaces which are iilled with mortar, in connection with a hollow concrete wall extending `ertically from the upper and lower limits of the reinforced concrete girder member, all bounded by the same `surface planes and iorminga monolithic wall construction.

2. rllhe herein described construction oi concrete walls which consists of a series ci' columns ci progressively diminishing crosssection forming offset portions, and transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said oilset portions, said transverse girders being ci double-wall construction having hollow connectingl means positioned therebetween.

rihe herein described construction oi` concrete walls which consists of a series of columns oit progressively diminishing crosssection forming oii'set portions, and transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said oii'set portions, said tranverse girders being oi' double-wall construction having hollow concrete tile with vertically disposed openings positioned therebetween and reinforcing tie-means extending from column to column.

il. The herein described construction of concrete walls which consists of a series of columns of progressively diminishing` crosssection forming oiiset portions, and transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said offset portions, said transverse girders being of double-wall construction having hollow concretevtile with vertically disposed openings positioned therebetween and reinforcing tie-means extending from column to column and having downwardly bent ends embedded in the oilset portions of said vertical columns.

The herein described construction of concrete walls which consists of a series of columns ofprogressively diminishing crosssection iorming offset portions, and transverse girders connectingsaid columns and 'restingupon said offset portions, said transvertical columns, said double-wall girders being connected by transversely disposed tiemeans, and means permitting transverse floor-beams to be `directly connected with said transverse girders. i

7. The Eherein described construction `of concrete walls which consists of a series of columns having offset portions, transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said offset portions, said transverse girders comprising "a double-wall construction resting on the oii'set portions of said vertical columns, theYdouble--walfl r girders `being connected by transversely disposed tiemeans, and means permitting transverse `floor-beams to be directly connected with said transverse girders, said means comprising indentations and projections in the transverse girders in which the floor-beams fit.

8; The herein described construction 0f concrete walls which consistsof a series of columns having oii'set portions, transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said offset portions, said transverse girders comprising a double-wall construction resting on the offset portions of said vertical columns, the double-wall portion being connected by transversely disposed tiebeams, and means permitting transverse floor-beams to be directly connected with said transverse girders, comprising clencher grooves in the transverse girders into which the floor-beams are anchored by a concrete filling.

9. The herein described construction of concrete walls which consists of a series of columns of progressively diminishing crosssection forming offset portions, transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said offset portions, said transverse girders being of double-wall construction having hollow connecting means positioned therebetween, and metal tie means for equalizing or transmitting weights between the insulated portions of said girders.

10. The herein described construction of concrete walls which consists of a series of columns having offset portions, and transverse girders connecting said columns and resting upon said oiiset portions, said trans- Vfrom column to column and having' downwardly bent ends embedded in the offset portions. of said vertical columns.

11. vThe herein described building construction which consists of a plurality of vertically disposed columns, means connecting said columns integrally including metal reinforcing means and girders of double wall insulated construction, transverse tie means in said girders arranged in monolithic construction to transmit strains one to another and equalize weights that might be carried by either inside or outside portions of said double wall insulated girders.

l2. The herein described building' construction which consists of a series of vertically disposed columns, and insulated double wall girders connecting said columns, transverse metal tie and reinforcing means therein, and double wall panels intermediate said columns and girders.

18. The herein described building construction which consists of a series of vertically disposed hollow tile columns and transverse connecting double wall girders, a wall portion at an angle thereto constructed of hollow masonry tile, the adjacent tile blocks of the wall portion being bonded with the tile blocks of the columns, and vertically disposed reinforcing means passing downwardly through said tile blocks of the wall and column as are common to both.

14. The herein described building' construction which consists of a double wall girder, insulating` tiles therebetween, and diagonally disposed tie members lying in. a vertical plane, said plane being; transverse to the' plane of the wall between said tiles adapted to connect said double walls and transmit strains from one to the other.

In testimony whereof I aliiX my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

Titnesses P. A. BLAIR, C. J. KULBERG.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

